Can "No-Salt" salt alternative be used saftely with high blood pressure and diabetes? This stuff is so strong and so salty tasting I have to wonder if it's bad for you? What are the Pro's & Con's of using this salt alternative?
Thanks,
JC

JC,

Potassium chloride as an alternative to salt is okay..BUT...(and this is very important)... it is potentially dangerous in patients with renal dysfunction or those taking potassium-sparing diuretics.
A lot of people find the taste so odd anyway that they prefer to abandon salt-
flavoured additives altogether!

I've always found that the safest and best substitutes for salt include acids (e.g. vinegar, lemon, lime, and other fruit juices), curry spices, garlic, onion powder, or even better real onion... and any kind of tasty herb you may love.

zuzu xx

I've read on the pi that some bp meds you are not to use potassium or salt substitutes. My dr also told me not to use them.

I've read on the pi that some bp meds you are not to use potassium or salt substitutes. My dr also told me not to use them.

Yes, unless you have a concurrent cardiac rhythm disturbance, or are on a potassium sparing diuretic like spironolactone. There are other drugs that contraindicate using additional potassium, but at the moment, I can't remember if it's a CCB or an ACE inhibitor that you can't use that stuff with! (and too tired to look it up....) I bet Zuzu or Zip would know.

BabyCatcher,

Did a little research...

Here's the scoop.


The following drugs may increase the effects of potassium salts (acetate, bicarbonate, and citrate) so it's important not to take these if you are on any of the following meds, without talking to the doctor:

Most ACE inhibitors, and as we already noted, potassium-sparing diuretics such as triamterene (Dyrenium, Dyazide, Maxzide), spironolactone (Aldactone, Aldactazide), and amiloride (Midamor, Moduretic);
And yes, beta-blockers such as atenolol (Tenormin) and propranolol (Inderal); including acebutolol (Sectral), bisoprolol (Zebeta), carteolol (Cartrol), labetalol (Normodyne, Trandate), nadolol (Corgard), metoprolol (Lopressor), and pindolol (Visken).

ALSO, talk to the doc if you take the heart medicine digoxin (Lanoxin);
or steroids such as prednisone (Deltasone, Orasone,) cortisone (Cortone), hydrocortisone (Cortef, Hydrocortone), dexamethasone (Decadron, Hexadrol).

OR an anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, others), naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox, Naprosyn,), or ketoprofen (Orudis KT, Orudis, Oruvail). These may also interact with potassium salts.

Jeesh, guess it's best if you are on ANYTHING(!) to double check with your physician before using potassium salt-substitutes!

zuzu xxx

Wow, Zuzu, I knew there were a lot of BP meds that you couldn't take with potassium, but not THAT many. Good to know. Also, when I woke up this morning, I went and looked up CCB's since those were not on your list. With drugs such as verapamil and diltiazem, potassium salts should be avoided, too, as both of those drugs work to bring down heart rate. (The other CCBs like nifedipine, amlodipine, etc, I couldn't find any information that stated that K salts would be a problem, as their primary mechanism of action is not to bring down heart rate.)


Yep, I knew digoxin was on that list...basically any drug that controls cardiac rhythm is not compatible with extra potassium. While most of those drugs are used only in a hospital (such as the positive inotropes), there are tons of people walking around at home taking digoxin, so that one completely bears repeating.

People with severe or uncontrolled hypertension shouldn't be taking the NSAIDs you mentioned anyway, because of their problem with water retention over the long term.

You know the sad thing is there are people (like me) who have uncontrolled BP & Arthritis. the Arthritis is very debilitating as I have it in many joints.
My cardioligist is working diligently to find a way to have the best of both worlds.